A Right Royal Occasion

 Tuesday 31st July 2012

After a busy day yesterday collecting most of the Track and Field Athletes bags  ahead of their arrival from Portugal today, we had a welcome treat.

We had been advised after the Queen's visit, that Prince Harry would be coming later this week. However he brought his Brother Prince William and Sister in Law Kate along with him, marking a right Royal Occasion for GB Athletes this week.

What Fine young Men William and Harry have turned out to be, they mingled with the Athletes, laughed and joked and really took a keen interest in all the Athletes had to say. They took their time walking round, shaking hands with as many of the GB Team as possible.

Kate - well what is there to say, Stunning  young Woman as you see her on TV, even stunningly beautiful in person. She too was as relaxed and enjoyed being here as much as William and Harry.

Bring on the medals now guys.....

Up close and personal

Sunday 29^th July 2012

I have never met a more laid back pair of Athletes the day before their biggest competition in 4 years.

My role today was to take the maintenance men around our GB rooms that needed missing door handles replaced or locks putting on the bedroom doors.

One of the rooms belonged to Tom Daley who was sharing with the rest of his diving team mates.

Whilst I needed to wait around for the job to be complete, I started to talk to Tom and Pete Waterfield who are partners in the Synchronised 10M Platform.

They will be competing tomorrow so I tried not to disturb them as I assumed they would want as much rest as possible, this was not the case, they were so relaxed and totally at ease about competing tomorrow that I stood watching the replay of the GB Ladies diving team with them while they analysed the teams.

Pete is on his 4^th Olympics and he explained that he will be competing for the next 2 years, but this will be his last Olympics, He told me he hits the water around 40 miles an hour and eventually it does take its toll on the body.

I asked Tom how he can be so relaxed before a big competition and he simply said that it helps him focus better. He is genuinely a fantastic young man, who even Pete paid  him such a compliment, saying he is such a nice lad who is so down to earth, and has time for everyone.

Tom knows he gets a lot of  attention but he told me that he loves to speak to and get  pictures taken with the fans,  he knows they turn up to watch and support him, therefore he feels he needs to give something back to them…

Now that is one young man with his feet firmly on the ground!!

I will be cheering them both on tomorrow, Good luck boys…

Meeting The Royal Family

Saturday 28^th July 2012

WOW!!!!

Coming into the Village today saw myself and the rest of the GB Games Makers a little worse for wear, but not because of the alcohol, but by being at the village for 17 hours yesterday, as we prepared for the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games, was this worth it? Damn right it was worth it!!!

We were told in the week that no one could have taken today off what so ever as the GB Team officials had something important that required all 12 of us to be in early for, that was all they would say…

 Little did we know that we had the most important guests of the Games wanting to meet with the Athletes and also meet the Games Makers that were helping to make the Games truly memorable for the Team..

The briefing we had was that The Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, and Princess Ann, who would be the Lady In Waiting to the Queen today, were coming into the GB Headquarters to meet not only the Athletes but ourselves also.

How do you describe the emotion, the head rush, and the sheer craziness of knowing that you have been chosen to meet the Royal Family? I cannot so I won’t. All I will say is it was emotional to say the least..

I got to say hello to the Queen as she passed by, but Prince Philip stopped to ask me if I was looking after Team GB and were they behaving themselves...

The visit was a great boost to our GB Athletes just before they go off to compete for medals over the coming days....

Opening Ceremony of the 2012 Olympics

Friday 27^th July 2012

How do I top being involved in the 2012 London Olympic Games?

I write this blog this morning as I can only describe as the leftover smell of fireworks from the night before….. I still have the smell and taste of the electrifying buzz, excitement, pride and amazing atmosphere of the GB Squad and the rest of the World Athletes as we marched towards the Stadium.

This will go down as one of the greatest days of my life, how many times I write that this cannot get any better, guys you would have to be in my shoes on this Olympic journey to understand how this feels.

This morning I go back into the village walking on air. The GB squad were on the biggest high last night with smiles on their faces a mile wide.

Here is a small selection of pictures of Team GB,  Water Polo and  Swimming ladies, the GB football players, GB Basket ballers, Weight lifting girls - Zoe Smith, and Natasha Perdue, GB Boxing - Anthony Joshua etc.

How I stepped in for Chris Hoy

Wednesday 25^th July 2012

I do not know when I am going to wake up from the bubble I am in.

As a young  athlete racing at the top level, I dreamt of being in the Olympics one day so to feel what I am experiencing right now feels like I am living that dream…

 We had a full dress rehearsal at the Olympic stadium today where we would step in for the Athletes. The ultimate gift I had was to be Chris Hoy’s understudy and carry the England Flag around the stadium as he will do on Friday.

 I got a sense of how this will feel for Chris on Friday night. Although earlier there were over 50,000 spectators watching what will be a spectacular show for the Opening Ceremony, by the time it came for the countries to parade the spectators were asked to leave to ensure they had time to catch their transport. Even though we paraded around without an audience  the emotion and pride you feel carrying the flag is like nothing else I can compare this with.

If you do nothing else on Friday night you must watch the Opening Ceremony, this will be truly AMAZING I promise you, so get the beer and wine on chill sit back relax and enjoy is all I will say......

Meeting Nick Clegg and Team GB Welcome Ceremony

Tuesday 24^th July 2012

Today was truly an amazing day, I know I keep saying each day is special, but today had capped it for me as an experience I will not forget, not only did I shake the hand of the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, who came to visit us at the GB Headquarters, but I was chosen to carry the GB Placard and lead Team GB Athletes, the Chef De Mission and the Officials to the Welcome Ceremony. It just doesn’t get any better than this…..

Team GB Athletes got the biggest cheer so far as they entered the  Welcome Ceremony in the Athletes Village. To be elected to lead these Champions into the Ceremony was a fantastic Honour.

As we made our way back to Team GB Headquarters I was walking with the British Tennis Team, they asked me if I could take some pictures of them with their camera. I thought it would be cheeky not to get a picture for myself…

Catering to the Athletes every need

Monday 23^rd July 2012

In the Athletes Village they have thought of everything to ensure the Athletes have a memorable stay while they are here.

Not only is there the most incredible Dining Area that caterers for every single Athletes needs from around the world, if you look out of the GB Apartments you will see an outside Dining area too.

Here the Athletes can enjoy a Barbecue Style Feast, there are even Kebabs on the menu...

We also have Grab and Go Carts around the Village so that the Athletes can get a quick light bite if they get hungry between meals.

Today we had our biggest teams come in so far, and we dealt with all the Athletes and Bags with great speed and efficiency as a team.

The gag of the day for my Team was that as I got stuck in to retrieve the bags of our most expensive Basketball Player, I looked like a dwarf  stuck between two almost 7 Foot Players as I lead them to their apartments, They absolutely towered me....

Athletes bring the sun to the Village at last

Saturday 21^st - Sunday22^nd July 2012

At last we have some glorious weather to welcome our Top Athletes from around the world.

By the start of the 2012 London Olympic Games we will have welcomed over 10,000 Athletes from more than 200 Counties, competing in over 30 different venues around the UK.

We have seen the arrival of over 400 Athletes from the start of last week, to over 600 by the end of today, however from next week we will see around 1200 Athletes enter the Village on a daily basis.

Most of our Team GM Branding is now up and looking good, with more to follow later in the week.  

Welcome Ceremonies  are now taking  place each day, one that stood out for me today was  Burkina Faso, although they only have 5 Athletes competing they were truly overjoyed to be here. The atmosphere was awesome, seeing the Athletes and officials singing and dancing, and really enjoying themselves was a pleasure to be part of. 

2 of the Athletes will compete in Athletics, 2 in Swimming and the other Athlete competes in Judo.

While the fun goes on around the village we are still working hard to ensure when the Athletes come in we sort out their luggage and make sure it gets to the right apartment. I have been mingling with our GB Basket Ball Team today, I spent a while with them to help sort out their training gear. I would like to say it was an honour to help the guys, but actually it was my pleasure… Mmm how tall, I felt like a kid in a candy store with these long legged boys, my days just get better and better…

Great views from the GB Apartments

Thursday 19^th July

Today was an early day for me as I took the 5.58am Bus to the Athletes Village. It was my turn to man the GB Headquarters Desk.

Here we deal with any queries that the athletes or the Officials come to us with.

As we have a team of maintenance men on the ground to tend to our queries, which means the issues can be resolved quickly.

In my spare time I get the time to exercise!!! 

The big task we had on the agenda today was to brand the Athletes Balcony’s with Team GB Branding.

The guys have been hard at work to get this looking great, it will look exceptional by the time this is complete.

 GB Athletes have some of the best views from the Balcony. The Olympic Park is only a stone’s throw away, along with Westfield shopping centre.

Waving off our GB Swimming Team

Wednesday 18^th July.

Although we checked in some of our Athletes on Monday, we were waving some of them off yesterday and today.

Yesterday we saw both Male and Female Football Teams head off to their training camps, after spending the day and night soaking up the environment and atmosphere.

While today ahead of the arrival of the Ladies Hockey Team, we waved off the Swimmers. They are now in Edinburgh getting in their last minute preparations ahead of the Games.

Today has been the a quiet day for myself and the other GB Games Makers since we came here, as we only had one Team arrive. This allowed us to take in the village in more detail.

We are all a very friendly bunch at the GB Headquarters, but when it comes to Cadbury Chocolate there are some of our senior officials who are so greedy and not happy to share….

Meeting the Baroness

Tuesday 17^th July

Currently I seem to be in the right place at the right time. As I went to kit out the GB Cars with Flags and Branding on the wing mirrors, I stopped by to watch the first Welcome Ceremony of the Games, which was for the British Virgin Islands.

The Ceremony was an absolute delight, Lord Seb Coe was there to give a speech and welcome the Athletes.. On my way to the Cars I only bumped into the legend there is - Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson. She is delighted to have the 2012 Olympics under way..

As the days go by the Village is filling up nicely, I have met some Belarus, German, Swiss and Chinese Athletes, again who are all in high spirits. To be among this atmosphere with the officials and the Athletes is truly electrifying ....

There are also some other special people in the village to look after our Top Athletes - the Troops.

It did not take me long to convert them into chocolate lovers, as you can see I am always relied on the plug Kraft whenever and where ever possible, (hope I get brownie points for this guys).

To show you the extent of how much work we are doing in the Village I have a pedometer with me at all times, my average steps each day is – 22000, which is the equivalent of 16 miles!! Incredible, I will either be very fit, or fit to drop by the time I get back to work….

The first Athletes for Team GB to arrive

Monday 16^th July

This was our most important day so far. We had the arrival of over 200 of our GB Athletes coming into the Village.

All the room checking,  lost keys, broken wardrobes, toilets not flushing, rooms too hot, etc.. were over for the today.

 Last minute preparations were still under way before the first Athletes arrived.

We had a meeting at the GB House yesterday, where we were fully briefed to ensure the athletes were not put under any stress, no photos taken or autograph hunting,

but most of all to make them truly welcome.

You might know I got a mention in this meeting. Mark England our Chef De Mission told everyone in the meeting that the only person who was allowed to break the rule today on this occasion was yours truly.

He made everyone aware that my nephew Daniel was part of the GB football team and he would get an exclusive kiss and hug from his Aunty.

First Athletes to come in were the Diving guys. We welcomed them, collected their luggage and showed them to their rooms.

The biggest group to arrive were the swimmers, there were 61 in the group, with over 120 pieces of extra big luggage between them, next to arrive were the Male footballers, Female footballers, and shooting Athletes in last.

All the athletes were so happy and friendly, and great to talk with.

My proudest moment of the day was seeing my nephew come through the door with the Football team. As he headed straight to me with a huge hug and kiss he introduced me to his team.

The first thing he asked me was if I had got any chocolate for him, and his room mates. As they left to go for their welcome meeting, my team got in place to show them to their rooms. I waited on Dan’s floor, and before he arrived I put a Time Out on his pillow (yes I made up his room and got everything ready for him and Micha, his old playing mate at Man City).

As I had brought in chocolate that day for my Team, there was a 120g GB CDM bar left over, so before I went home I quickly ran this up to Dan to share with the rest of the roommates.

My Aunty duties were over for the evening… 

The Perfect Store

Saturday 14^th July

Now this is what I call the Perfect Store.

This is when the World will know Kraft is the Official Treat Supplier of the 2012 London Olympic Games.

How proud did I feel taking my team of Games Makers to the Confectionery store, and showing them that the only confectionery that the Athletes, Friends, Family, Officials, delegates and staff can by is Kraft.

At the moment the store is still being kitted out, but I  have to admit it looks fantastic.

I think my new found friends thought I was a little peculiar as I kept snapping away to get as many in store pictures as I could to share with the Business..

Imagine if all our retail stores look like this…